The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1887-11-10
ACCIDENTAL INvenTioNs.
Origin % the Rayonst, the telescope -
the Art Of LithoHraphing.


the Art Of LithOHraphing.
The bayonet l. said 10 have derived
IT, name from the fact that Il was firsl
made Al Bayonne and it. origin illus
trates the pruverb. Necessity is the
mother OF invention" A Basque regi
ment was hard pressed by the enemy
on a mountain ridge near Bayonne
One Of the soldiers suggested that, as
their ammunition was exhausted, they
should fix their long knives into the
barrels of their nuskets The suggeS-
ton was acted upon. The first bsyonei
charge was made. and the victory OF
the Bssqnes led 10 the manufacture Oh
the weapon At Bayonne and its adopt
ion into the armies Of Europe. Not un.
frequently an invention has been sug-
gested by some trivial event. which
would have passed unnoticed hsd not 8
man with eyes and brains seen il.
Argand. q poor Swiss. invented =
lamp with . wick 6tted into a hollow
cylinder, up which a current 0f aii
was SLOWED 70 pass. thus giving g sup
ply Of oxygen TO the interior rs well
as 10 the exterior Of tn. circular lame
Al first Argand used the lamp without
3 glass chimney. One day he VS.
busy in his workroom. and sitting be-
fore the burning lamp. His little
brother Was amusing himself by piac-
ing bottomless oil flash over different
articles. Suddenly be placed it upon
the fame 81 lamp which instantly
shot up the long. circular neck Of tbs
flask with increased brilllancy. Il did
more; for Il flashed into Argand's mind
The Idea OF the lsmp-chlmney. b
which his invention was perfected.
One day the children Of q Dutch
sPectscle-maker were playing with sew
srsl Of their fathers glasses before the
door Of his shop. Setting two
Of the largest glasses together,
they peeped through them and
we're surprised % see the weather-cOck
Of the opposite church brought close 70
their eyes. They called their father &c
see the strange sight He looked
through the glasses. and what he saw
suggested TO him the possibility OF con-
struoting = curious toy. Calico, hear.
ing Of the toy which made distant
things appear close at hand. saW 81
once what q valuable help it would be
in studying the heavens. He set e
work and soon made the telescope.
An accident that is the happening Of
something which was not planned. has
often helped 70 an invention. Il helpad
Senefelder TO invent TYPOGRAPHY. HG
vas a sort Of Observation-Disclosures Wri.
ter Of verses and comedies. an actor, q
fiddler, q painter. an eEgrayer and
printer. He worked At etching on cop
per. but the coppersmith refused to let
him have any nore plates unless he
paid cash for them. He then tgied 20
utilize the old plates by rubbing OF he
etchings With 8 soft limestone At last
the copper became useless through
many rubbings. and he tried etching on
the stone, plan that did not week very
well. One day. while he was polishing
of stone which he intended - eteh,
his mother asked him to write cue . list
Of the linen which the washerwamRn
was waiting TO carry on. Not findings
slip Of paper or drop Of ink. he wrote
the list on the stone, with printing iuh
prepared from wax, soap snd lamp
black. intending to copyit at his leisure.
A few days after he was ahout to wipe
the writing from the stone. Suddenly
he thought he would learn what would
be the effect Of writing with the pre-
pared ink on the stone. il il should be
bitten in with squaforiis. he bit away
TO about the hundredth part of an inch.
charged the lines with the ink. took
seve-als impressions Of the writing and
discovered that he had invented the ART |
q lithOgrsphing. - Hotsih's Companion